1. Field
The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce systems and methods and, more specifically, to person-to-person electronic commerce transactions.
2. Description
The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) now enable private parties who do not know each other to do business in a way that was not possible before. Exemplified by web sites providing auctions, person-to-person electronic commerce is projected to grow dramatically in the next few years. This growth in person-to-person electronic commerce is remarkable considering the typical constraints placed on the parties to the electronic auction, such as the absence of effective transaction fulfillment services. For example, there is currently no widely used person-to-person credit card model. Another barrier to growth stems from the very nature of person-to-person electronic commerce itself.
By definition, person-to-person electronic commerce involves private party sellers, not established businesses (such as well-known retailers, wholesalers, mail order companies, etc.). This lack of xe2x80x9cestablishmentxe2x80x9d reduces the degree of trust the parties to a transaction can place in each other, especially the trust of the buyer in the seller. Buyers and sellers on-line typically know very little about each other, a problem made worse by the lack of face-to-face presence between the parties. Because of these inherent factors, individuals are put into the position of doing business with complete strangers. While people are usually willing to exchange money with strangers for goods that they desire, they are understandably concerned about exchanging personal information, such as name, address, telephone number, email address, and credit card number. Unfortunately, that is precisely the kind of information that buyers and sellers are forced to exchange today to do business in an on-line person-to-person electronic commerce system.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for protecting the anonymity of parties to a person-to-person electronic commerce transaction.
An embodiment of the present invention is a method of protecting the anonymity of a buyer and a seller during fulfillment of a person-to-person electronic commerce transaction. The method includes obtaining transaction, buyer, and seller information, arranging for shipment of goods that are subject of the transaction with a selected shipper, and generating an encrypted mailing label, at least part of the transaction, buyer, and seller information being included as part of the encrypted mailing label. The method further includes sending the encrypted mailing label to the seller, receiving notification of acceptance by the buyer once buyer receives the goods from the seller via the shipper, and sending payment for the goods to the seller.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a person-to-person electronic commerce system that protects the anonymity of buyers and sellers. The system includes an auction web site for holding an electronic auction of goods resulting in a transaction between a buyer and a seller, and a trusted intermediary, coupled to the auction web site, to obtain transaction, buyer, and seller information from the auction web site, to arrange for shipment of the goods with a selected shipper, to generate an encrypted mailing label, at least part of the transaction, buyer, and seller information being included as part of the encrypted mailing label, to send the encrypted mailing label to the seller, to receive notification of acceptance by the buyer once buyer receives the goods from the seller via the shipper, and to send payment for the goods to the seller.
Other embodiments are described and claimed.